This set of three videos illustrates how math is used in satellite data analysis. The videos feature NASA senior climate scientist Claire Parkinson. Parkinson explains how the Arctic and Antarctic sea ice covers are measured from satellite data and...(View More) how math is used to determine trends in the data. In the first video, she leads viewers from satellite data collection through obtaining a time series of monthly average sea ice extents for November 1978 – December 2012, for the Arctic and Antarctic. In the second video, she begins with the time series from the first video, removes the seasonal cycle by calculating yearly averages, and proceeds to calculate the slopes of the lines to get trends in the data, revealing decreasing sea ice coverage in the Arctic and increasing sea ice coverage in the Antarctic. In the third video, she uses a more advanced technique to remove the seasonal cycle and shows that the trends are close to the same, whichever method is used. She emphasizes the power of math and that the techniques shown for satellite sea ice data can also be applied to a wide range of data sets.(View Less)

This resource is designed to enable presenters (scientists, engineers, etc.) to easily present to an elementary and/or middle school audience and feel confident that the information they are presenting is developmentally appropriate and supports the...(View More) Next Generation Science Standards. A PowerPoint Presentation includes talking points and suggestions, a “Best Practices” document to offer helpful suggestion before, during, and after the presentation, and a list of additional resources that may be accessed by the speaker and/or the educator. This presentation is designed to take 30 to 45 minutes.(View Less)

This is a lesson about magnetism in solar flares. Learners will map magnetic fields around bar magnets and investigate how this configuration relates to magnetic fields of sunspots. This activity requires compasses, bar magnets, and a equipment for...(View More) the instructor to project a PowerPoint or pdf lecture presentation. This is Activity 1 in the Exploring Magnetism in Solar Flares teachers guide.(View Less)